Court to hear petition wanting F1 race cancelled

(AP) India’s top court has agreed to hear a petition seeking the cancellation of this weekend’s Formula One race over a tax issue.

The Supreme Court said it will hear the case Friday after a public interest litigation pleaded the race should not be held since the organizers had not paid entertainment tax for last year’s event.

Entertainment tax, which is generally levied on huge revenue-generating entertainment shows, had been waived before the first edition in 2011 before a court ordered last week that the organizers would have to pay the tax amounting to about $4 million per year.

The Indian Grand Prix at Greater Noida is already in trouble with the race taken off the 2014 calendar in a bid to adjust the races for 2015. However, high taxes in India are also said to have put the future of the event in doubt.